Sunday evening I was taking off my shoes, and noticed a few itchy bumps and a painful swelling. In no time it had developed into a large red patch, which hurt like the dickens. Sort of like a yellowjacket sting, but I don't recall any such event:

My wife drew the line around the site; by the next morning it had extended, pink not red, another inch or so. The wetness is steroid gel. She says it's probably not infected, as not propagating up the leg (via lymph channels). But it's going on two days now, and still hurts like the dickens.

Could it be a spider bite? Only ones that severe are reputed to be Brown Recluse spiders, but the Web tells me they are not common here. We were out at Castle Island (Boston harbor) Sunday, so conceivably something bit me there. But what?

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Brown Recluse's can be this far North and you may not have felt anything which does pertain to them. If the wound hasn't improved by tomorrow, get your derriere to a doc, whether your own or an urgent care place. The venom of a BR kills tissue and can, in extreme circumstances, cause body parts to die (fingers, toes, in some cases, hands) if left untreated.

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I lived near there when I was a kid, in the neighborhoods now referred to as City Point and Telegraph Hill.

The VERY FIRST place my mom stopped after hauling four kids from L.A. to Boston in a camper was a tiny clam shack on Castle Island. That was my introduction to fried clam bellies - mmm, mmm, good!

Kelly's was still around back in those days - I understand it closed sometime in the early 2000s or so. Casey Affleck's character references it in Good Will Hunting, so I assume it was still around when that movie was filmed.

Sorry to hear about that bite. I agree with the recommendations to see a doc ASAP - that looks pretty nasty for a bite.

Thanks cbelt3. Hasn't spread farther since this morning, so maybe maxed out. Can get antibiotics tomorrow if seems to be an infection. AFAWK, nothing can be done about venom (unless snake—didn't see one of those).

If it was a brown recluse, I think the treatment is to open the wound up, and clean it out as much as possible, and keep the dead tissue cleaned out. Don't google "brown recluse bite" if you have a weak stomach! In fact, most people shouldn't image search "brown recluse bite" at all. Ever.

Paul F.
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Eureka, CA

I wasn't saying it was definitely a Brown Recluse. I was saying it is a possibility and their venom needs to be treated ASAP. Don't take any chances! What are the dark spots?

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While I favor a bite from something-or-other, why, just the other day we were talking about shingles here. Stings, burns, blisters, spreads (although usually in the distribution of a nerve, which in your leg should be up and down).

Quotesrf1957
There was a show the other day. It was about people mistaking mersa or something similar for spider bites . It was one of the forensics shows on Justice channel . The guy died and his wife survived .

My friend is married to a Orthopedic Sports Medicine Specialist, and when she broke her finger playing softball he swore to her that she was being a baby and it wasn't broken. Just saying, doctor spouses can make mistakes.

Quote$tevie
My friend is married to a Orthopedic Sports Medicine Specialist, and when she broke her finger playing softball he swore to her that she was being a baby and it wasn't broken. Just saying, doctor spouses can make mistakes.

That's why he came here to get expert medical advice.

Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

As Speedy points out, my wife is a (now retired) physician. She drew another circle around the site this morning, and notes that the margins have decreased somewhat. The middle is darker, but not 'mushy', there are no lines going up the leg, and no lymph-gland tenderness in the groin area. She concludes that it is not infected. There is presumably toxin in the site, but even if there were an antidote, it should be been administered right away, not two-and-a-half days later.

I might just go to urgent care and see if the NP will give me a script for an antibiotic, in case it does get infected. It's true, rob, that if a bite does get infected, it's usually staph (which lives on your skin).

At this point it still hurts to stand, and I've wrapped it to keep my pants from touching (which hurts as well). I've had what I assumed were 'spider bites' before, usually just small sore bumps; never anything like this. That's why I asked; figured someone here might have experienced something similar and could confirm origin.

References we've looked at say Brown Recluse spiders are mostly in the southern-middle parts of the country, not along the coasts. There are Black Widows here and in Virginia (where we were recently), but descriptions of their bite symptoms are quite different.

Gabester, I had no exposure to poison ivy/oak Sunday, and the symptoms are quite different. I grew up with poison ivy, and am (or was) not very allergic.

DP, the brown spots are moles.

N-OS X-tasy!, there is a Kelly's Roast Beef in the Jordan's Furniture building in Framingham. I wonder if the 'clam shack' you stopped at was Sullivan's, now a busy take-out shop right at the entrance to the park. There was a line all day long to get in. We spent most of the afternoon sitting at tables or benches nearby, or walking about the park (just lawns and paved walkways). Whatever bit me could have been there, I guess. My wife says it was likely something living under my desk, which certainly could use an attack with a vacuum.

My daughter says I should start developing super-powers in a week or so. . .

Quotemrlynn
N-OS X-tasy!, there is a Kelly's Roast Beef in the Jordan's Furniture building in Framingham. I wonder if the 'clam shack' you stopped at was Sullivan's, now a busy take-out shop right at the entrance to the park. There was a line all day long to get in. We spent most of the afternoon sitting at tables or benches nearby, or walking about the park (just lawns and paved walkways). Whatever bit me could have been there, I guess. My wife says it was likely something living under my desk, which certainly could use an attack with a vacuum.

The Kelly's I was referring to is Kelly's Landing, which was originally located on the waterfront near the L Street Bathhouse and the South Boston Yacht Club. A Google search indicates that location closed in 1974 (right when we moved to Southie) and that the business reopened on L Street in 2004 and closed the doors at that location in 2010.

GWH was released in 1997 and presumably filmed as early as the year before. Neither Kelly's Landing location was in business at that time, so you are probably correct with your Kelly's reference.

Wednesday evening we decided that the red area, now turning dark purple (bruising?) was expanding, not retracting, so yesterday I went off to the Urgent Care at the group I normally frequent. The NP called over my regular PCP, and he urged me to go the hospital and get a dose of IV antibiotics. This meant going through the ER, which is a pain, and the hospital is like walking into a tub of Jello: time slows down to a crawl. Next time I bring a book.

Anyway, I had the infusion, got some oral antibiotics (which ID doc said I should take as well), and came home. Whereupon I developed severe chills, following by a fever. At 102.5 I gave up and started Acetaminophen. It was an awful night. But this morning the fever is gone. Why did I get it right after IV antibiotics? My wife says maybe it was just going to happen; the drug takes maybe 24 hours to work.

I'm going back for a second dose today. So I have to credit the MRF kibitzers for the right advice: hie thee to a doctor!